Jily- The day before Valentines Day
by phoenixfeatther
Summary: Jily awakes form yet another dream about James Potter. Refusing to believe that she could ever like him, she goes downstairs to clear her mind-only to find James Potter himself, writing on a piece of paper that she won't let him see...


Lily Evans awoke sweating profusely and silently swearing to herself. That night she had (yet another) dream about James Potter, in which they did things that she would rather not say aloud. She hated this. Ever since the start of 7th year, this had been happening. The fact was, James Potter was much more standable now. He wasn't nearly as much as a bully or an attention seeking toerag as he was before. Lily found this new James astonishing, especially since the newly matured James seemed to be quite attractive. Of course she would never admit this aloud, much less to herself. Deciding finally, that she would need to clear her thoughts before she went back to sleep in order to avoid more dreams like this, Lily slid out of bed and quietly crept to the common room, relying on the pitter-patter of the rain to mask the sound of her footsteps. Lily intended to sink into one of the overstuffed and well worn chairs in front of the fire, but instead found none-other than James Potter himself seated in exactly the same chair she had been hoping to relax in. This was not what she wanted to find at all, and Lily turned around, fully intending to quietly creep back up the stairs, but something caught her eye. It was the sight of James running his hand through his now less-than windswept looking hair, a frustrated sigh forming on his lips. Lily usually loved to see James frustrated, because that's how his constantly bullying and his attention seeking ways felt to her. Frustrating. Seeing him get a taste of his own medicine was satisfying…but seeing the sigh form on his lips was different, because this time she stared at his lips and could not seem to stop. He was mouthing incoherent words and she could hear the furious scratch of his quill on the scroll of paper. She quickly snapped her eyes away from his lips, darting instead to the piles of paper littering the floor beside him. Lily suddenly felt bad for Potter, an emotion she had rarely experienced with him. He was up in the late hours into the night, probably finishing an essay, when he had a quiditch match the next day (celebrating Valentine's day). Telling herself that she was doing this so Gryffindor wouldn't lose the match due to James lack of sleep, Lily strode up quickly to James, settling herself in the seat across from him. James, obviously caught by surprised sprang upward off his chair with a small yelp. Lily smirked and tried to pull the piece of parchment towards her. James eyes widened and he immediately pulled it back with reflexes only a seeker could have. "What are you doing?" He said quickly, "Why are you here?" Lily raised her eyebrows. "I was under the impression that this was the Gryffindor Common Room, not the James Potter room". "Well, yes. but- but" James was stammering and trying to ease the paper slowly off the table. "Just let me see the paper Potter, I can help you" Lily said trying, and failing to grab the paper. Curse his wonderful seeker skills. "Actually you can't" James said, "It would ruin the whole thing" "Ruin the whole thing?!" Lily was angry now, "I am better at most classes then you are. I'd like to know what grades you have received on your OWLS that are better than mine! I could make that paper 100 times better in a second" She snapped. "No, no, no. That's not what I meant at all Evans! Your bloody brilliant. Its just this one thing, is something that can't be-, you can't-," he sighed, running his hand once again through his hair. He was slumped over, hand on his forehead with his eyes closed. Lily saw this opportunity and quickly grabbed the paper, running on to the girls dormitory stairs, preventing him from following her. "Lily, please, dont read that. Just don't" There was a note of panic in James voice, and she could hear a fluid stream of cursing under his breathe. She slowly unfolded the paper, which was littered with "L.E's" in big, bold, letters."Lily please don't, I'm begging you. Stop, I promise I will do anything." But she drowned out the sound of his voice, which was now hysterically high-pitched. At the top of the paper was what looked like the start of a poem:

_"Roses are Red,_

_Violets are blue_

_please go ou"_

It was crossed out and what looked like a second try was under it:

_"You are really smart_

_and hot_

_so am I _

_I think?_

_But she still doesn't like me_

_I must not be that good then_

_I must not be good at all for her"_

The page was littered with more failed attempts and finally a paragraph was written at the bottom.

_"What can I say? She is almost perfect. She is so beautiful. I can't begin to describe it. She always stands up for herself. She never backs down from anything. She is so smart. She would never (and never has) dumbed herself down just so a guy would like her. She always knows the answers to questions without ever showing off. She always finds the beauty in others (even Snivellous for a while). Her hair is always perfect and seems to complement her green eyes. Her lips are soft and smooth (actually I would never know but I have stared at them long enough to get that impression). She always knows what she is doing. She takes everything in her stride. She always knows what joke to make and she never took any crap from me. She could never like me. I always try too hard and ask for too much. How could she like me? This started out as a stupid valentine card that I know I could never give her. Nothing I can think of is good enough for her. I love her so much I just hope she gets a valentine from someone who deserves her. I definitely don't." _

Lily gazed at the paper, awestruck. "Lily?" she heard, "Lily, please, don't read that. I'm sorry. Sooo sorry. You weren't supposed to read that." His voice sounded hallow now, because he realized she was reading through it now. Lily felt a smile creep up her face even though her cheeks were burning. Was this really how she looked to him? James had never been that humble before, about anything. All of a sudden a burst of love came for him. He loved her. This was entirely different person to Lily, this James who loved her like this. She had always believed that he had liked her for her (she hated saying this, as it sounded conceded) looks. He seemed to notice so much more though, silently observing her. She could not deny the fact that she had been attracted to him before. But now? She couldn't help herself. Lily ran down the stairs, two steps at a time and finally jumped into James unsuspecting arms, kissing him full on the mouth, finally giving into what she (and James too) thought, was long overdue.


End file.
